A Child Must Platform & Sneak Through the Nightmare Worlds of ‘Incubo’

A trip on a cruise ship for a boy and his family leads the child to find himself abandoned in an unsettling realm in Incubo.

Content Warning: Child Abuse

Incubo appears to draw some inspiration from Limbo, giving players control of a young boy in some disturbing circumstances. You’ll have to help the boy solve environmental puzzles by pushing objects around in order to get through the bleak, gloomy areas the boy finds himself in. Not only this, but you’ll need to do so while some unsettling ghosts are on your tail, meaning to bring the boy to creative, but often brutal, ends.

Should players be able to dodge the various phantoms and make their way through the quiet, eerie landscapes, they’ll start to piece together the boy’s true story, perhaps learning why the boy’s father keeps saying strange things to him.

Incubo features an animated art style that makes the kid look cute and innocent, something that stands in contrast to that same art style being used to create unsettling ghosts and bloody creatures. It’s a jarring look, but one that makes you want to keep the boy safe that much more. However, don’t expect to be able to, as these beasts are persistent, aiming to offer players some chilling chases as they struggle to keep the kid alive.

Joel has been covering indie games for various sites including IndieGames.com, Siliconera, Gamasutra, Warp Door, CG Magazine, and more over the past seven years, and has written book-length studies on Undertale and P.T.. Joel is constantly on the lookout for digital experiences that push the boundaries of what games can be, and seeks to delve into the creative process, meanings, and emotion labor that goes into the work of artists worldwide.